Boynton’s Feathertop

When Dr.Ben organised this trip, he stumbled across this ‘Iron Chef’ event that’s happening at Boynton’s. He asked us, “Do you guys wanna book? It’s $100 a head, 6 courses, matched with wine.” Of course we do- any foodie event that’s not going totally break the bank, I am up for it.

So on that sunny sunny day we head off to Boynton’s to taste ‘Iron Chef’ Ikuei Arakane’s (affectionately known as Kin San) creation. To be honest I have no idea who Kin San is, sadly I never had the chance to watch Iron Chef, but either way I looked forward to this awesome afternoon spent under the warm sun, drinking wine and eating a Japanese-French fusion cuisine.

Our super friendly hosts and waitresses brought us sparkling wine and ushered us to our seats, then not long after, our feast began.

Trio of canapés- Duck leg terrine, Trout and Tofu & Chicken Skewer.

The duck leg terrine was awesome. There was a layer of fat without being too fatty- I couldn’t get enough of it.

Fried trout with shredded carrot ginger and vinaigrette was not very memorable, perhaps because it tasted a little bit fishy and a bit too sour for me. Apparently it was marinated with pineapple so it should have sweetened it… but it was still too acidic for me.

Tofu and chicken skewer with ginger, teriyaki sauce and sancho has definitely inspired me to make something similar at home (except mine fell apart and Kin San’s was beautifully made).

Our entrée was a Prawn salad with yuzu and wasabi dressing. The salad was fresh, however Alan did not like the texture of the prawn and the yuzu and wasabi was not prominent in the dressing so it tasted like an ever so slightly hot mayo.

Pan fried crispy rockling was next. The flavour of the fish is good. It was nice and crunchy on the outside, however, it was slightly tough on the inside so it wasn’t perfect.

Pork belly braised in a Chinese inspired sauce with star anise, chicken stock and soy was oh so tender… The Japanese taro potato adds an interesting texture and it absorbs all the yummy sauces. Okra was on the menu but sadly not featured as they found snow peas better this time round.

The braised beef cheeks were really really tender, and the flavours just absorbed into the cheeks- well it WAS cooked for 12 hrs! If only we could have more!!!! I am still dreaming about those beef cheeks now.

They also mentioned dreamy mash potato… dreamy indeeddddddyyyyyyy.

Interestingly, after lunch the chef came to give us a little rundown of what ingredients were used and in this beef, he used miso and blueberry! I should really ask him why blueberry? Does it add a little something to it or does it tenderise the meat? Should I use it when I stew my beef cheek? How much should I use? Darn it, too late!

Dessert time! Beautifully presented in a glass bowl was our sesame seed pannacotta. Dr. Ben was disappointed that he couldn’t wobble it like normal pannacotta but I was more disappointed about the pannacotta itself. I think they might not have toasted the sesame seeds first. It didn’t have that awesome aroma it should have in any sesame seed dessert. Take the tulle on this pannacotta for example- the flavours were perfect as the sesame seed has been toasted. The green tea ice cream and red bean paste along with the sesame pannacotta would have been a perfect combination- alas that pannacotta! Oh did I mention that tuille? I was eyeing on a spare panna cotta dessert just to get my hands on the tuille but alas someone took it :p

Overall, although some of the dishes were not as yummy as I expected, you simply cannot fault the quality of the produce. For $100 with food and matching wine it was pretty great value also. The staff at Feathertop were genuinely friendly and enthusiastic and the chef and hosts were happy to hang around and talk about food with everyone. The scenery was simply stunning and it was definitely a very enjoyable lunch indeed! 7.5/10